Anyone Bought/Used "Best Sharpening Stones" Arkansas Recently?

[Jake Rothermel]

My sincerest apologies for starting yet another even-remotely-related-to-sharpening thread...but I need some advice and where better to go for it than the Creek?!


I've been using abrasive paper on granite for some time now and while I've been able to get good results (for me, anyways), my current supply is starting to run low and I'll probably have to purchase more by mid-summer. Paper has been good to me but it is a constant expense and that's money I could be spending on something else, so.... maybe it's time to up my sharpening ante. So, I've decided - after way too much thought & deliberation, I admit - to finally start using stones.

I've never had much luck on diamond stones (that I could afford, anyways...). I don't have a good source of water in my shop, unless I want to go outside to the garden hose (I don't) and besides which my shop isn't heated so winter sharpening would likely be a pain (maybe literally?). I'm also not too keen on all that flattening, either. The "Oilstones Cut Slower!!" thing doesn't really concern me; I'm a hobby woodworker so seconds don't count much for me. Most of my tools are old(er) rehabs and are, I think, mostly O2 or similar so I'm pretty convinced that Arkansas are a good fit for me right now. Maybe it's the hippie in me, but I'm really drawn to the natural stones as opposed to the man-made (Nortons, and the like, etc.).

The only question left, then, is where to buy them? http://www.bestsharpeningstones.com/...ing_Stones.htm


Has anyone bought or used Arkansas from Best Sharpening Stones recently? I've searched through the archives here and found a Few Recent Threads that have been helpful, but the most recent is 2-1/2 years old. Still, it seems pretty clear that Dan's and Natural are considered to be the top vendors; but they're awfully expensive and my Shop Funds are on the low end these days (a new house and a new baby'll do that to you, I hear...). If the Best's are a good quality, I could pick up what I need (three 10x3 stones) from Best all at once for less than $200 - which super fits my budget at the moment. A translucent can wait, for now anyways. Anything that size at Dan's or Natural is twice that price, at least. Are the Best's any good? Decent? What say you?

Secondary Follow-Up: If the Best's aren't worth it, I'll likely go with Dan's or Natural but I'll probably also have to buy them one at a time at those prices... Is there an order I should think about buying them in? Should I buy a Soft first and work my way up to the finer stones? Or should I do the opposite and save my pennies for the finest first and come back down to a Soft? Does it even matter? And do I even really need a Hard Arkansas?


I can't imagine I won't still do my initial aggressive grinding on abrasive paper, since that's what I know (and I use the paper-on-granite for a lot of other rehab projects, too, like plane soles, etc.) and I doubt I'll stop stropping afterwards (green compound, leather), either; but after an initial 3M-level 220 or 320 grind, I'd love to not deal with paper in my daily sharpening routine anymore. And I won't even ask which oil I should use...only so many Pandora's Boxes I can open at a time!!


Y'all are the best. Super thanks to all in advance!
jake

[Jim Koepke]

My question for bestsharpeningstones.com is how thick are their stones?

Another way to save is with an 8" stone instead of a 10" stone. I have one 10" stone and do not always use its full length.

jtk

[Patrick Chase]

I've been using abrasive paper on granite for some time now and while I've been able to get good results (for me, anyways), my current supply is starting to run low and I'll probably have to purchase more by mid-summer. Paper has been good to me but it is a constant expense and that's money I could be spending on something else, so.... maybe it's time to up my sharpening ante. So, I've decided - after way too much thought & deliberation, I admit - to finally start using stones.

That's why people usually switch to stones. I suggest replacing the fine grits first, as that's where stones are economically most advantaged relative to paper. Coarse stones dish/wear faster than fine ones, and that reduces their cost advantage relative to paper.

Has anyone bought or used Arkansas from Best Sharpening Stones recently? I've searched through the archives here and found a Few Recent Threads that have been helpful, but the most recent is 2-1/2 years old. Still, it seems pretty clear that Dan's and Natural are considered to be the top vendors; but they're awfully expensive and my Shop Funds are on the low end these days (a new house and a new baby'll do that to you, I hear...). If the Best's are a good quality, I could pick up what I need (three 10x3 stones) from Best all at once for less than $200 - which super fits my budget at the moment. A translucent can wait, for now anyways. Anything that size at Dan's or Natural is twice that price, at least. Are the Best's any good? Decent? What say you?

I had a bad experience with them a while back. I placed an order for some items that were listed as "in stock" with 3-day shipping. After the initial acknowledgment they went completely dark. After a couple weeks I tried to call, but it turns out that their number is for an outsourced service that can take orders but can't do anything else. I left my number and they did not call back. After a couple more weeks I contested the charge with PayPal. They didn't respond to PayPal either, so PayPal refunded the order amount. The problem isn't so much that they're slow as that they apparently misrepresented their inventory and then didn't acknowledge repeated inquiries from me or PayPal.

I had previously placed one other order that was handled exactly as promised. .500 is a great batting average, but not so good for retail performance.

Secondary Follow-Up: If the Best's aren't worth it, I'll likely go with Dan's or Natural but I'll probably also have to buy them one at a time at those prices... Is there an order I should think about buying them in?

I'd start with the Dan's translucent. It's a very good stone, and it will have the largest economic benefit.

[ken hatch]

Jake,

Good advice from both Jim and Patrick, I've just a couple of things to add. With hard stones there is little need for a 1" thick stone, they wear so slowly for most users a 1/2" stone is fine. If you free hand a 2" stone works as well (maybe better) as a 3" stone and the same with 8" vs. 10". A two stone set up is all you need, a med India ($20 USD from TFWW) and one of the hard Ark, can be a hard white, hard black, or translucent it makes no never mind. Add a strop and you are set for any O-1 iron.

When you have a little extra money get a good course diamond to do the dirty work of grinding and stone maintenance.

Your hippy side is whispering the truth, natural stones for finishing work better than man made ones. It's all in the scratch pattern. Of course YMMV.

ken

P.S. The English Woodworker has a new series on sharpening, it is worth a look.

[ken hatch]

Jake,

I want to add:

I don't like to think of myself as a stone collector but.....From an inventory I did yesterday for insurance I must be. I have over $10,000 USD of stones, both natural and man made. BTW, don't ever get hooked on Japanese natural water stones . With all those stones to pick from over 90% of my sharpening is done on two of my cheapest stones, a 8X3X1/2 Norton Translucent ($79.95 USD from Tools For Working Wood) and a Norton Medium India ($16.95 USD also from Tools For Working Wood). The Translucent stone is not available at this time but I will often use a 8X3x1/2 Hard Black Arkansas ($158.90 USD from Dan's) instead of the translucent. Dan's list the Hard Black as finer than his Translucent stone. In use I can believe that is true, the Hard Black stone has a "harder", "slicker" feel than the Translucent stone. Sometimes I will use a 9X2X3/4 Norton Hard Arkansas ($169.95 USD from Tools For Working Wood) as my fine stone, it is a little courser and faster than either the Translucent or Hard Black. I also use an Atoma 400 grit diamond plate ($70.18 USD from Tools from Japan) for grinding and stone maintenance.

Add a Horse Butt Strop ($22.95 USD from Tools For Working Wood), and if you wish a little "green stuff", you can have a very good sharpening system that will last your lifetime. Total cost depending on availably of the Norton Translucent is less than $200 USD and less than $120 USD if you do not pick up the Atoma diamond plate starting off.

Good luck in your hunt for stones, good Arkansas stones are hard to beat for day to day sharpening of plain high carbon steel. You only need two stones for a working system, one is a very cheap India....Buy the best fine stone you can.

ken

[Don Jarvie]

I have the translucent one it works pretty well. I use the fine India and the the translucent after hollow grinding. Everything gets sharp.

[Robert Engel]

I think they are good stones. I have the translucent/surgical black. I only use them for honing carving gouges.

I also think it best to stick with one method or another. It makes your setup simpler and speeds up the process IMO.

FWIW, my setup is diamond plate --> water stone --> strop and I sharpen freehand. For tune ups, I go 1250 (xfine) diamond straight to 8K water stone. I'm back to work in less than 90 seconds (unless I've been lazy and gone way over which case I start with 800 diamond). I have coarser diamond plates and water stones down to 350 grit, too.

[Kees Heiden]

Do you use a guide? Ditch it and you can save yourself a bunch of money. 8 x 2" is the perfect size for freehand sharpeing because you don't wear a sideways hollow into the stone when it is narrow. And 8" is plenty of length.

Is it possible to find a vintage translucent? Those are usually pretty cheap and at least just as good.

If you do decide to keep on using the guide, well sorry, that's an expensive hobby for an oilstone user.

[lowell holmes]

I sharpen on a diamond plate and hone on mdf charged with green honing compound. I sharpen free hand.

It results in razor sharp edges. I keep the set up on the bench and touch up edges as needed.
My method is not messy like using water stones. I have a set of Norton stones, but I don't use
them because of the mess.

I have used the scary sharp method of sharpening and it yields incredibly sharp edges.
I just don't like having window glass out on the bench.

[michael langman]

I bought my stones from Natural Whetstone Company. Good prices and excellent stones. A medium, a hard white is all you really need to get started. You can buy the translucent if you want too but not necessarily needed.
A Norton combination coarse, fine, bench stone works well also. Much less money.

[michael langman]

Ken is right on about the medium india stones from Norton. They are a good substitute for the coarse,fine bench stone I mentioned.

[Richard Darjes]

Of course an "India stone" is a man-made stone made from aluminum oxide, so it may not satisfy his "hippy" side's desire to use natural products. I mean, I am just saying man.

[Brian Holcombe]

Natural stones are at their best as finish stones or in some cases medium-finish stones (soft ark). I prefer synthetics for everything else.

I did attempt to use naturals from 1k up, but ultimately found that it was faster and more accurate using synthetics up to a medium finish and for certain steels that are especially hard I found that it was easiest and most productive to work all the way through to finish with synthetics then polish with a natural stone to perfect the edge.

[Brian Henderson]

I just don't like having window glass out on the bench.

Which is why I built a wooden holder for my float glass, you can adhere paper to the glass and there's a lid that keeps it all safe and secure between uses.

[Mark R Webster]

You might want to check out this thread. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ingstones-site.